Lawyers – Arkansas Black Lawyers

Benjamin F. (“B. Frank”) Adair was born in Arkansas in 1853, was literate, and earned his living as a lawyer in Woodruff County in 1880. In 1880, the Census reported him as 27 years of age and married to Dosie, with one child. In 1891, he served as state representative from Pulaski County in the Arkansas General Assembly. Continue Reading Benjamin F. (“B. Frank”) Adair

Lide Alexander was listed as an attorney in the 1895-96 Little Rock (Pulaski County, Arkansas) City Directory. A “Ledie” Alexander is listed as having died in Pulaski County on June 22, 1922. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading Lide Alexander

W. R. Anthony was reported to be an attorney in Pine Bluff (Jefferson County), Arkansas about 1891. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading W. R. Anthony

Joseph Atkins was admitted to practice before the state supreme court on July 8, 1935. At that time, he was living in Camden (Ouachita County), Arkansas. In 1938, he was listed as a member of the Wonder State Bar Association, a Black lawyers group. He was born April 12, 1904, location unknown, and his last known residence was in Camden, Arkansas, in January 1971. Nothing more is known about him. Continue Reading Joseph Atkins

Henry Avant was listed as an attorney in the Helena (Phillips County, Arkansas) City Directory during the period 1917-1924. He was admitted to practice by the state supreme court on February 7, 1921. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading Henry Avant

Julian Talbot Bailey was born March 22, 1859, near Barnett, Warren County, Ga. He attended Howard University, purportedly completing an M.A. degree. After teaching for a time in North Carolina, Bailey moved to Little Rock (Pulaski County, Arkansas) in 1884, where he taught at Philander Smith University, Mississippi State Normal College (1884-85) and Bethel University (where he was President during 1886-87). Continue Reading Julian Talbot Bailey

Conway Barbour is reported to have been born a free man in Kentucky about 1820. He was a free man working as a steamboat cabin attendant in Louisville, Kentucky, in the 1840s, which would have given him some prominence in the African American community. He appears in the 1860 Census in Cleveland, Ohio, as head of household with his first wife and children, and in Madison County, Illinois, with a second wife and family, both families originally from Kentucky. In the late 1850s, he operated a hotel/restaurant in Alton, Illinois. Continue Reading Conway Barbour

Thomas Bass was listed as an attorney in the 1878 Hot Springs (Garland County, Arkansas) City Directory. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading Thomas Bass

Peter Beasley came to Arkansas from Mississippi, where he attended Tougaloo College, and was listed as an attorney in the 1909 Helena (Phillips County, Arkansas) City Directory (indicating a Circuit Court admission). He was admitted to practice in the Pulaski County circuit court on December 23, 1910. Beasley appears in the Little Rock City Directory of 1911-12. Continue Reading Peter Beasley

Joseph Robert (J.R.) Booker was born in Helena (Phillips County), Arkansas, on September 19, 1893, and admitted to practice before the state supreme court on June 30, 1919. He was one of eight children born to Joseph A. Booker, a civil rights activist minister and educator, and Mary J. (Carver) Booker. Booker received a B.A. from Arkansas Baptist College in 1914, and obtained his legal education at Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois), graduating in 1917. He then returned to Little Rock (Pulaski County), Arkansas, to practice law. Continue Reading Joseph Robert (J.R.) Booker

William A. Booker was born in Arkansas in 1900 and was brother to attorney J.R. Booker. He was admitted to practice before the state supreme court on July 13, 1925. He was an early member of the first Arkansas branch of the NAACP in Little Rock in 1926. Continue Reading William A. Booker

Robert S. Bowers came to Arkansas from Louisiana, where he was born about 1858. He was admitted to practice before the Arkansas state supreme court on October 21, 1907, and apparently lived and practiced in Malvern (Hot Springs County), Arkansas, at that time. Continue Reading Robert S. Bowers

Joseph H. Bradford was born in Tennessee about 1854. Described as a teacher and lawyer, he served in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1885, representing Mississippi county. Continue Reading Joseph H. Bradford

J(ack) B. Brown was identified as an attorney in articles appearing in the Prescott (Arkansas) Daily News. The articles had originated in Little Rock and referred to the death of Mr. Brown at the hands of Sam Collins (a tailor) when he was discovered crawling through the window of Collins home. Brown was identified as “Jack the Shooter,” who had terrorized the city for several months by burglaries and attacks on women. During the crime spree, Brown allegedly killed a babe in arms and shot several others. No other information as to his employment or practice as an attorney was included in the articles. Continue Reading J(ack) B. Brown

Lewis Jenks Brown was born on January 16, 1858 in Little Rock, Arkansas, the son of Jenks and Caroline Frances (Parker) Brown. He attended public schools in Cincinnati and Little Rock, and took special courses in stenography, typewriting and modern languages in 1878. Brown is listed as a teacher in Little Rock between 1875 and 1887. In 1887, he was president of the Pulaski County Teachers’ Association. Continue Reading Lewis Jenks Brown

Alexander L. Burnett was born in Arkansas or Mississippi in 1858. He was educated at Branch Normal College in Pine Bluff and received his legal training at Central Law School in Nashville, Tennessee, apparently returning to practice in Pine Bluff (Jefferson County), Arkansas, in 1886. Continue Reading Alexander L. Burnett

B. G. Clanton was listed as “Ass’t Attt’y General” of the Mosaic Templars of America, Endowment Department, in 1927. Attorney S.A. Jones was “Nat’l Att’y General” and T.J. Price another “Ass’t.” Nothing more is known about him. Continue Reading B. G. Clanton

Josiah Clark was born in Georgia in March 1842 and listed in the 1899 Hot Springs (Garland County, Arkansas) City Directory as a practicing lawyer. In 1901, Clark was listed as speaker at a program of the Wonder State Bar Association. He may have gone to Oklahoma after that time, and then returned, as someone with the same name is mentioned in a biography of that period as having moved from Oklahoma to Pine Bluff about 1909. As of 1900, he had a daughter named Floy, born July 1882 in Arkansas. Nothing more is known about him. Continue Reading Josiah Clark

Moses A. Clark came to Arkansas from Germantown, Tennessee, where he was born a slave on August 15, 1834. He was brought to Helena (Phillips County), Arkansas, in 1849. In1856, he was taught barbering in Helena, Arkansas. At some point, he left Arkansas and lived in Nashville, Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri. He returned to Helena after the Civil War a free man. Continue Reading Moses A. Clark

Walker H. Clark was admitted to practice by the state supreme court on July 13, 1931 and was listed in the 1931 Pine Bluff (Jefferson County, Arkansas) City Directory as an attorney. No other information about him is known. Continue Reading Walker H. Clark

Walter F. Clark was listed as an attorney in the 1916 Little Rock (Pulaski County, Arkansas) City Directory. He was admitted by the state supreme court on February 26, 1917. No more is known about him, although a “W.F. Clark” was reported a member of the Jackson County (Missouri) Bar Association in 1930, and may indicate where he went from Little Rock. Continue Reading Walter F. Clark

Winfield F. Clark was born October 11, 1890, location unknown. He briefly joined attorney J.A. Hibbler in practice in Little Rock (Pulaski County, Arkansas) in 1917. His last residence was Kansas City, Missouri, in September 1968. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading Winfield F. Clark

William L. Copeland was born in Ohio about 1846. He served Crittenden County in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1873 and was re-elected for the 1874-75 term. He was described as a lawyer, policeman, and county assessor. He died in 1885. No other information about him is known. Continue Reading William L. Copeland

L. Clifford Davis was born in Wilton, Arkansas, on October 12, 1924 the son of Augustus and Dora Duckett Davis. Raised on the family farm, after eighth grade he moved to Little Rock to live with older siblings while he attended Dunbar High School and Philander Smith College. Following graduation, he applied to Howard University School of Law and was admitted. After his first year, he attempted to transfer to the University of Arkansas School of Law for the 1946-47 school year. Continue Reading L. Clifford Davis

Richard A. Dawson was born in Virginia in 1848, but came to Arkansas from Illinois, where he was one of two Black men admitted to the newly-created Law Department of the University of Chicago in 1869, and the second Black man admitted to practice in Illinois, on July 8, 1870. He must have left Chicago soon thereafter, as he is reputed to have been admitted to practice in Arkansas by the state supreme court on December 16, 1870, after arriving in Pine Bluff (Jefferson County), Arkansas. A minister’s son, he obtained his earlier education at Oberlin College (Ohio). Continue Reading Richard A. Dawson

Edward D. Dobbins is said to have practiced law in Fort Smith (Sebastian County), Arkansas about 1920. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading Edward D. Dobbins

G. H. Donahue was listed as speaker in a program by the Wonder State Bar Association in 1901. Nothing more is known about him. Continue Reading G. H. Donahue

Jacob N. Donohoo was born in Bradley County, Tennessee in December 1854. In 1880, he was reported living in Hickory Ridge, Phillips County, with wife Mollie E and daughter Nina. His occupation was farmer. Described as a farmer, lawyer, grocer, editor, bank president, and active in real estate, he was elected to represent Phillips county in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1877, 1887, 1889, and 1891. In 1900, he was living in Helena, Arkansas, with Mollie, Nina and three younger children, and worked as the editor of a weekly paper. Continue Reading Jacob N. Donohoo

Oscar M. Farrington was listed in the Little Rock (Pulaski County, Arkansas) city directories between 1908 and 1912. He also appears in a class list from Howard University School of Law upon receiving an LL.B. degree in 1904. He died in Little Rock in October 1972. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading Oscar M. Farrington

William Harold Flowers, Sr. was born October 16, 1911, in Stamps (Lafayette County), Arkansas, the son of a businessman (A.W.) and an activist schoolteacher (Beulah Sampson Flowers). He graduated from the Robert H. Terrell Law School in Washington, D.C., and was admitted to practice in Arkansas by the state supreme court on October 21, 1935. He opened his office in Pine Bluff (Jefferson County), Arkansas, at that time. Continue Reading William Harold Flowers, Sr.

J. F. Ford was listed in the “Lawyers” section of the 1881-82 Combined Directory of Little Rock (Pulaski County, Arkansas), Hot Springs, Pine Bluff, Eureka Springs & Fort Smith. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading J. F. Ford

W(illiam) Hines Furbush was born in Kentucky about 1839. He served in the 42nd United States Colored Infantry in 1865-66, then emigrated to Liberia. The 1870 census shows him living in St. Francis Township, Phillips County, with wife Susan and two children. It is not clear what he did until 1873, but he must have been considered successful, as he was elected to the state legislature in 1873 to represent Phillips County. During that period, he helped to partition a portion of Phillips County to form Lee County. He was described a “a bright mulatto, intelligent, and quick to catch a point. Continue Reading W(illiam) Hines Furbush

John W. Gaines first appears as an attorney when he is listed as “T.W. Gaines” in the 1901 Arkansas Gazette as a speaker for the Wonder State Bar Association, a Black attorneys group. John Gaines appears under “attorneys” in the Little Rock (Pulaski County, Arkansas) City Directory of 1903. He was admitted by the state supreme court on December 31, 1906 and was probably previously admitted only to the Pulaski County Circuit Court. Gaines was listed as a partner of Scipio Africanus Jones between 1906 and 1908. Between 1908 and 1911, he advertised as a sole practitioner. Continue Reading John W. Gaines

John R. Gay was born on July 20, 1887, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It is not known when he came to Arkansas, but he was vice-principal and taught at the Lee County Training School, Arkansas. He later was named principal of the Hot Springs (Arkansas) Grammar School, was a food administrator for the Federal government, and a bookkeeper for the Stringer Mercantile. Continue Reading John R. Gay

William E. Gay was born in 1880 in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1906, he married Carrie Hobson, with whom he had three children, only one of whom, Willie Edna, survived infancy. Willie Edna died at the age of about ten years. At the time of the 1910 census, he worked as a mail clerk for the railway and owned his own home. He also spent some time as a teacher. Continue Reading William E. Gay

K. Gibbs was identified as an attorney in the 1876-77 City Directory of Little Rock (Pulaski County, Arkansas), Pine Bluff & Hot Springs. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading K. Gibbs

Mifflin Wistar Gibbs came to Arkansas from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was born on April 17, 1823, the son of free Blacks. Gibbs was an impressive personality. He was both self-educated and wealthy by his own efforts. In his early years, Gibbs had participated in the convention movement focused around abolitionism in Philadelphia before leaving the state. He explored western New York state on a speaking tour with Frederick Douglass. Continue Reading Mifflin Wistar Gibbs

George H. Green(e) was listed in the Little Rock (Pulaski County, Arkansas) City Directories of 1910 and 1912. In 1938, he was a member of the Wonder State Bar Association, a Black lawyers group, and practicing in Hot Springs (Garland County), Arkansas. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading George H. Green(e)

J. Early Greene was listed as an attorney in the Little Rock (Pulaski County, Arkansas) City Directories between 1916 and 1920. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading J. Early Greene

William H. Grey was born December 22, 1829, in Washington, D.C., the son of free parents. He arrived in Arkansas from Missouri in 1863 and settled in Helena (Phillips County), Arkansas. He established himself as a business man and planter, and quickly became active and influential in Republican state politics. Continue Reading William H. Grey

Tabbs Gross arrived in Arkansas in 1867. Born a slave in Kentucky in 1820, he purchased his freedom before the Civil War and moved to Ohio. In 1869, he began publishing Arkansas’ first Black-owned newspaper, the Freeman, in Little Rock (Pulaski County), Arkansas. Gross’ newspaper editorials criticized the Republican Party’s treatment of its Black supporters and pushed for more access for Blacks to power within the party. Continue Reading Tabbs Gross

Milton Wayman Guy was admitted to practice by the state supreme court on June 11, 1915, and was listed in the 1915 Little Rock (Pulaski County) City Directory as practicing with Scipio Jones and John Gaines. Continue Reading Milton Wayman Guy

John A. Hibbler was born in Arkansas in 1878. Hibbler was admitted to practice before the state supreme court on June 30, 1919. Apparently, he was admitted earlier in the circuit court, as he was listed as an attorney in the Little Rock City Directory (Pulaski County, Arkansas) in 1916. Continue Reading John A. Hibbler

Myles A. Hibbler was admitted to practice before the state supreme court on January 26, 1942. He was the son of J.A. Hibbler and practiced with his father in Little Rock (Pulaski County), Arkansas. Myles joined his father, Scipio Jones, J.R. Booker, William A. Booker, and the NAACP (through Thurgood Marshall) in a suit against the Little Rock School District in 1942 on behalf of a Black teacher for equal pay with white teachers. Myles Hibbler died on March 9, 1946. Continue Reading Myles A. Hibbler

John A. Hiller was mentioned in an article as a practicing attorney in Little Rock (Pulaski County), Arkansas, during World War II. No other information is known about him. Continue Reading John A. Hiller

S. J. Hollingsworth probably came to Arkansas from New York. He arrived in Pine Bluff (Jefferson County), Arkansas, before 1883, when he is listed as Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue in the Pine Bluff City Directory. He was admitted to practice by the state supreme court on October, 28, 1887. He practiced in Pine Bluff (Jefferson County), Arkansas, and was described at one time as “the most notable among the colored bar.” Nothing more is known about him. Continue Reading S. J. Hollingsworth

A. Jackson was listed as a lawyer in the 1920 Little Rock (Pulaski County, Arkansas) City Directory. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading A. Jackson

J. A. Jamison was listed as a speaker at a program of the Wonder State Bar Association in the Arkansas Gazette of 1901. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading J. A. Jamison

G. A. Johnson was listed in one source as practicing in Huttig (Ashley County), Arkansas about 1929. Nothing else is known about him. Another source mentioned a George Johnson, who lived in Huttig during the 1950s and 1960s, who may be the same man. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading G. A. Johnson

John H. Johnson was born in Ohio in 1840, and arrived in Augusta (Woodruff County), Arkansas, in 1865 at age 25. He is the earliest known Black attorney in Arkansas after the Civil War, said to have been admitted to practice and to the bar of the state supreme court the year he arrived. Continue Reading John H. Johnson

Thomas P. Johnson was brought to Arkansas as a slave about 1859 from North Carolina or Kentucky, when he was about 38 years of age. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War, possibly with the 54th United States Colored Infantry out of Pulaski County, Arkansas. After the war, Johnson was elected one of eight Black members of the 1868 Arkansas Constitutional Convention, representing Little Rock (Pulaski County), Arkansas, where he was a minister. Continue Reading Thomas P. Johnson

A. D. Jones was listed as an attorney and partner to Lloyd G. Wheeler, another Black attorney, in the 1872-73 Little Rock City Directory (Pulaski County, Arkansas). Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading A. D. Jones

Archie V. Jones came to Arkansas from the District of Columbia where he was born about 1877. He is listed in the archival records of Howard University School of Law as having earned his LL.B. degree in 1899. He was licensed to practice by the local circuit court on January 15, 1899, as he appears in the 1900-01 Little Rock (Pulaski County, Arkansas) City Directory and in the 1900 Census as an attorney. Continue Reading Archie V. Jones

J. Pennoyer Jones was born in Virginia in 1842 and arrived in Arkansas City (Desha County), Arkansas in 1870. He had a reputation as a successful businessman, in railroad speculation and land development, before he became known in state politics. Jones was elected a representative from Desha County to the 1874 Arkansas Constitutional Convention, at which time he was known as an attorney. Continue Reading J. Pennoyer Jones

Japheth F. Jones came to Arkansas from either Alabama or Mississippi, where he was born November 1863. It is not known when he arrived in Arkansas. He apparently was practicing law in 1891, in Pine Bluff (Jefferson County), although his name and attorney designation first appear in a 1906 publication. Jones was listed as a member of the Wonder State Bar Association, a Black attorney’s group, in 1901. Continue Reading Japheth F. Jones

Scipio Africanus Jones was born in Dallas County, Arkansas, around August 1863-64. Jones was first admitted to practice in the circuit court of Pulaski County (Little Rock), Arkansas, on June 15, 1889, and to the state Supreme Court on November 26, 1900. Ultimately, Scipio Jones would be admitted to practice before the United States District Court in 1901, to the United States Supreme Court in 1905, and to the United States Court of Appeals in 1914. Continue Reading Scipio Africanus Jones

Theodore X. Jones was born on August 20, 1904, the son of attorney Japheth Farland and Eliza Jones in Pine Bluff (Jefferson County), Arkansas. He attended the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama before reading law in his father’s office. He was admitted to practice law by the state supreme court on February 15, 1932, and entered into partnership with his father. Continue Reading Theodore X. Jones

Augustus Arvis Latting was born on January 30, 1905, in Helena (Phillips County), Arkansas. After earning his A.B. degree from Fisk University in 1926, he attended Northwestern University School of Law, graduating with a J.D. in 1932. He was admitted to practice before the Arkansas state Supreme Court on January 2, 1933, but did not settle into practice in Helena. Instead, Latting began a practice of law in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was one of the state’s earliest Black lawyers. Continue Reading Augustus Arvis Latting

J. J. Lawson was listed by the (Little Rock) Arkansas Gazette as a speaker for the Wonder State Bar Association in 1901. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading J. J. Lawson

Daniel Webster Lewis came to Arkansas from Frankfort, Kentucky, where he was born about 1851. He studied law under a white lawyer and a white judge in Marion (Crittenden County), Arkansas, and was reportedly admitted to practice about 1873 by the local circuit court. As of 1880, Lewis was 28 years of age and also identified as a merchant and justice of the peace. Another source states that he was elected judge of the Crittenden County probate court in 1882 and served until 1888. Continue Reading Daniel Webster Lewis

C. T. Lindsay came to Arkansas from Georgia, where he was born May 1850. He was listed as an attorney in Little Rock (Pulaski County) City Directories from 1888 to 1915, and also was said to have been admitted to practice law in Georgia and Tennessee. Lindsay was a member of the Wonder State Bar Association, a Black lawyers group, in 1901. Continue Reading C. T. Lindsay

J. Gray Lucas was born in Marshall, Texas, on March 11, 1864, but obtained his basic education in the Pine Bluff (Jefferson County), Arkansas, schools, where he received a B.A. from Branch Normal College (now University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) in 1884. Continue Reading J. Gray Lucas

Waters McIntosh came to Arkansas from Lynchburg (Sumter County), South Carolina, where he was born a slave on July 4, 1862. He was listed as an attorney in the 1916 Little Rock City Directory, in practice with another Black lawyer, William E. Gay. That partnership lasted for three years. McIntosh was admitted to practice before the state supreme court on February 23, 1920. Continue Reading Waters McIntosh

Nelson H. Nichols was an Arkansas native, born December 19, 1865, at Arkansas Post in Arkansas County. His family arrived in Little Rock (Pulaski County) in 1870 and Nichols had approximately seven years of formal schooling before beginning to earn his living as a laborer at brick yards, and in oil and shingle mills. Continue Reading Nelson H. Nichols

Charles A. Otley was mentioned in one source as having been an attorney in 1872 in Marianna (Lee County), Arkansas. An article in the Arkansas Daily Gazette reported that a Black man of this name was elected city attorney in Phillips County in 1872. Continue Reading Charles A. Otley

Jno. D. Page was admitted to practice before the state supreme court on January 20, 1908. He had earlier been listed as a Justice of the Peace in the town of Hot Springs (Garland County), Arkansas, in 1884. Page was a member of the Wonder State Bar Association, a Black lawyers organization, in 1901. Nothing more is known about him. Continue Reading Jno. D. Page

W. E. Parker was listed in the 1908 Little Rock (Pulaski County, Arkansas) City Directory as an attorney. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading W. E. Parker

John E. Patterson was mentioned by one source as practicing in Little Rock (Pulaski County) in 1873. Nothing more is known about him. Continue Reading John E. Patterson

George Napier Perkins came to Arkansas from Franklin County, Tennessee, where he was born a slave on January 1, 1841, the son of Moses and Millie Perkins. He received a public school education. Perkins served in the Union Army during the Civil War beginning as a Private and becoming a 1st Sergeant in the U.S. 57th Colored Infantry, Company C. He married Maggie A. Dillard of Fort Smith, Arkansas (Sebastian County), on January 30, 1867. Continue Reading George Napier Perkins

J.H. Perkins is listed as a speaker on a program produced by the Wonder State Bar Association, a Black lawyers organization, in 1901. Nothing more is known about him. Continue Reading J.H. Perkins

Marion R. Perry was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, on July 11, 1892. He received an A.B. from Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) in 1912. During World War I, he was one of four Negroes to graduate in the 17th Provisional Training Battalion as a Second Lieutenant. During his two years in the Army, he was promoted to First Lieutenant. Continue Reading Marion R. Perry

S.A. Price was listed as a speaker at a program of the Wonder State Bar Association, a Black lawyers organization, in 1901. Nothing more is known about him. Continue Reading S.A. Price

Thomas Jewell Price came to Arkansas from New Haven, Connecticut, where he was born on April 2, 1884. He was admitted to practice before the Arkansas state Supreme Court on June 15, 1908. He obtained his legal education from Howard University School of Law, graduating in 1906. During law school and after graduation, Price clerked for Black judge Robert H. Terrell in Washington, D.C. Continue Reading Thomas Jewell Price

Stuart C. Pryce was an Arkansas native, born a slave in Pine Bluff (Jefferson County) about December 1855. He attended high school in Pine Bluff. Pryce studied law under George Napier Perkins some time between 1891 and 1900 in Oklahoma and practiced law in Oklahoma for one year before returning to Arkansas. Continue Reading Stuart C. Pryce

Wallace Leon Purifoy, Jr. was admitted to practice by the state supreme court on January 17, 1938, and practiced in Forrest City, Arkansas, in 1938. He attended Knoxville College in Tennessee, and the Chicago School of Law thereafter. In 1938, Purifoy was a member of the Wonder State Bar Association, a Black lawyers group. Continue Reading Wallace Leon Purifoy, Jr.

C. Alfred Rideout arrived in Arkansas about 1883, from Monticello (Jefferson County), Florida, where he was an attorney in 1877. In 1883, Rideout appears in a list of attendees at a Colored Men’s Convention in Little Rock, where he represented Conway County (Arkansas). He attended a similar convention in Louisville (Kentucky), called by Frederick Douglass, that same year. The Weekly Mansion, a Black newspaper, stated that he was the attorney for the Fort Smith and Memphis Railroad. Continue Reading C. Alfred Rideout

J. A. Robinson was born in Arkansas in May 1869. He was admitted to practice law by the state supreme court on June 15, 1893. That same year, he joined with Black attorney Scipio Jones in a law partnership in Little Rock (Pulaski County, Arkansas) that lasted until 1896. Continue Reading J. A. Robinson

J. D. Royce (or “Royes”) was mentioned as a practicing criminal defense lawyer in Hot Springs (Garland County), Arkansas, about 1895. The notice included the information that he had been appointed to represent a white man charged with murder. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading J. D. Royce

Frank Sawyer was born in Massachusetts in 1835. He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1877 as a representative of Lincoln County. He was mulatto and described as a lawyer and county assessor. The 1880 Census reports him married, with both parents born in North Carolina. Continue Reading Frank Sawyer

S(amuel) H. Scott was mentioned in the 1883-84 Pine Bluff (Jefferson County, Arkansas) City Directory as an attorney. Scott was elected a state legislative representative from Jefferson County to the Arkansas General Assembly in 1885. He may have moved thereafter, as he was reported to be an attorney in Fort Smith (Sebastian County), Arkansas, in 1889. Continue Reading S(amuel) H. Scott

William L. Scott was listed as a lawyer in the Helena (Phillips County, Arkansas) city directories of 1920 and 1923-24. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading William L. Scott

Abram (Abraham) W. Shadd was born in Pennsylvania or Ohio in 1844, of a free Black family known as active abolitionists. Shadd was admitted to practice in the state supreme court on March 25, 1872. His residence was listed as Chicot County, Arkansas, although he also practiced in Mississippi where he was the first Black attorney and became a well-known politician. His name does not appear as attorney of record in official Arkansas court records, and it is probable that he practiced very little law in Arkansas. Continue Reading Abram (Abraham) W. Shadd

Neely W. Shelton came to Arkansas from Tennessee, where he attended a law course and was admitted to practice law in 1903. Shelton was born in Starkville, Mississippi, in 1875 and attended school at the Agricultural and Mechanical College at Rodney, Mississippi. Thereafter, he taught school in Tennessee. Immediately after admission in Tennessee, Shelton moved to Arkansas and was admitted to practice law by the Jefferson County circuit court in April 1903. Continue Reading Neely W. Shelton

William Augustus Singfield arrived in Arkansas about 1898 from Wilkes County, Georgia, where he was born on January 1, 1875, to Mr. G.W. and Mrs. M.C. Singfield. Prior to becoming a lawyer, he worked as a carpenter and, later, founded the weekly Little Rock Reporter in 1901. Continue Reading William Augustus Singfield

Andrew W. Spears came to Arkansas from Florida about 1886 and was admitted to practice before the state supreme court on July 23, 1906. He was listed in city directories until 1925. In 1910, he had been married to Minnie for six years and they had two children (Rosa M. and Inez Verna). By the 1920 Census, Spears was married to Roena and there were two additional children (Joseph and Andrew). He died on June 29, 1925. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading Andrew W. Spears

I(saiah) H. Spears was reported in practice in El Dorado (Union County), Arkansas in 1938. He had graduated from Howard University’s School of Law in 1908. At that time, he was a member of the Wonder State Bar Association, a Black lawyers group. A reference places him in practice previously in Tulsa, Oklahoma, about the time of the May 1921 “Race Riot.” After the fires that burned the city’s thriving Black community, Spears and two other attorneys, practiced law in a tent as Spears, Franklin & Chappelle. Continue Reading I(saiah) H. Spears

J.G. Taylor was admitted to practice before the state Supreme Court on November 6, 1880. In 1901, he was listed as speaker on a program of the Wonder State Bar Association, a Black lawyers group. Nothing else is known about him. Continue Reading J.G. Taylor

Roderick B. Thomas came to Arkansas, probably from Alabama, about 1885. He practiced law about two years in Little Rock (Pulaski County) with Black attorney Mifflin Gibbs. Thomas was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on December 26,1848, and moved with his family to Selma (Dallas County), Alabama, where he was educated. He was elected clerk of the Dallas County criminal court in 1869, and to the Selma City Council in 1873. Continue Reading Roderick B. Thomas

Vince M. Townsend, Jr. was admitted to practice before the state supreme court on July 6, 1942. He left almost immediately for Los Angeles, California, where he practiced law until the 1990s. In Los Angeles, he was involved in the California Association of Black Lawyers (CABL), serving as Parliamentarian in 1980 and 1981. In 1980, he also was elected to the board of directors of the National Bar Association. He also served on the CABL Executive and Convention Committees. He maintained his Arkansas law license all his life. Continue Reading Vince M. Townsend, Jr.

G.W. Walker was listed as a speaker on a program of the Wonder State Bar Association, a Black lawyer’s organization in 1901. Nothing more is known about him. Continue Reading G.W. Walker

Lloyd G. Wheeler came to Arkansas from Illinois. He is said to have graduated from Union Law College in Chicago, and was the first African-American attorney admitted to practice in that state, on April 20, 1869. One newspaper reported that the Supreme Court and the examiners thought he was Spanish but, after an investigation, the admission held. He is listed in the 1871 Chicago Directory in practice with someone named “Hook” at 73 La Salle Street. Continue Reading Lloyd G. Wheeler

Shepperson Wilbun graduated from Howard University School of Law in 1948, a year ahead of L. Clifford Davis. Wilburn set up practice in Helena, Arkansas, shortly thereafter and, with Davis, filed a school desegregation suit against the Helena School District. Continue Reading Shepperson Wilbun

Thaddeus Douglas Williams was admitted to practice law by the state supreme court on July 3, 1950. He attended Tuskegee Institute and received his B.S. degree from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA. He graduated as valedictorian of his class at Lincoln Law College in 1950. Continue Reading Thaddeus Douglas Williams

Wathal G. Wynn was admitted to practice by the Arkansas supreme court on September 25, 1871. He lived in Lake Village, Chicot County. He obtained an LL.B. degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1871. He died on December 15, 1871, following a fight with three white men over the future of local business development in Lake Village. His death led to a mob of black men rioting and, overpowering the white sheriff, taking three men accused of Wynn’s murder from the jail and shooting them to death. Continue Reading Wathal G. Wynn